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Danielle de Barbarac
Danielle de Barbarac (b. 1494) was the main protagonist of the 1998 film Ever After: A Cinderella Story. She was the only child of the widowed Auguste de Barbarac and the late Nicole de Lancret. Although Danielle seemed to have been born into a respectable position in society as a landowner and a lady, she was used by her stepmother, the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, as a house slave. She was portrayed by the actors Drew Barrymore (adult Danielle) and Anna Maguire (young Danielle). Biography Early life (1494 - 1502) Danielle's mother, Nicole de Lancret, died giving birth to Danielle in 1494. Not much is told about Danielle's life before 1502, except that her father raised her and that him and Danielle were very close. She received an education of sorts from him. He appears to have regularly brought back books for her from his travels and would read them aloud to her every night. Life with her stepmother (1502 - 1512) In 1502, Auguste de Barbarac married the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent with the intention of giving Danielle a mother and two sisters, Marguerite and Jacqueline. However, two weeks after their homecoming, Auguste died of a fatal heart attack as he began his journey to Avignon. Danielle was left in the care of Rodmilla, who already resented her new stepdaughter and Auguste's preference for her. We may assume that Rodmilla immediately started treating Danielle as a servant because later in the film, Danielle said that Rodmilla never showed her any motherly affection. We also see that in 1502, Danielle had a friend called Gustave who appeared to be around her age. It is furthermore established that Danielle was a wild girl who chewed on bones at dinner and had mud fights with Gustave. According to Gustave, Danielle almost never looked like a girl. 1512 and onwards In 1512, the once-flourishing estate had fallen on hard times due to Rodmilla's negligence of the estate and expensive lifestyle. There were only three servants left of the household that there used to be: Paulette, Louise, and the retainer, Maurice. Danielle treated them as family and equals, although the other servants always referred to her as mistress, demonstrating their high regard for her. Category:Characters The first meeting with the Prince Danielle met the prince when he stole her late father's horse. She used an apple to knock him off the horse and continued to attack him with apples until he was revealed to be the prince. She then let him take the horse and was given twenty francs for her silence regarding the theft. Later, she dressed up as a courtier with the help of her now-artist friend Gustave and tried to use the Prince's money to free her servant and friend, Maurice, whom Rodmilla had sold into slavery to pay off her debts. The Prince then intervened and freed Maurice for her. Struck by her courage and outspokenness, the Prince follows Danielle, and they have a philosophical discussion on how society works. When the Prince demands to know who she is, Danielle gives him her mother's name, telling him that she is the Comtesse Nicole de Lancret. The invitation to the ball After Danielle escorted Maurice back home, Rodmilla immediately scolded her for not having told them that the prince was coming to return the stolen horse, stating her intentions for Marguerite to seduce the Prince. After being interrogated by Rodmilla, Danielle is left to her chores. Shortly afterwards, Danielle walks in on Rodmilla, Marguerite, and Jacqueline stealing her wedding dowry, which consists of her mother's dress and shoes. Rodmilla and Marguerite lie about their intentions, claiming that they want Danielle to go to the royal masque with them. Danielle is flattered by their apparent wish to treat her as a part of the family.